


What's on the Outside

by Thornvale



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Baby Tamatoa, Gen, Mershark!Maui, Monsters, Shapeshifting, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 02:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13090296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thornvale/pseuds/Thornvale
Summary: Prompt!fic. In order to convince a baby Tamatoa to leave his small island for greener pastures, Maui collects treasures from a sunken vessel in exchange for the belligerent little monster's co-operation.





	What's on the Outside

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Moana Holiday Exchange 2017. Written for popandcub, whose prompt inspired this.
> 
> 'MerShark!Maui swimming deep into the ocean to collect lost treasures for a much younger and smaller Tamatoa.'

“The ocean’s a pretty weird and wacky place. That’s putting it lightly, actually. I mean, you’ve just gotta sail over that horizon there and you could be faced with anything. You wanna see coconuts that walk around and throw spears like a buncha hairy goofballs? You got it, just gotta cross that sweet line just below the sky. Gods and demons? No problem! Ugly, terrifying monsters? Uh …”

Maui paused and lowered his hands, which he had since raised and bent to resemble claws. Similarly, his face was contorted into something his audience might have considered formidable and scary, just like the monsters he spoke of, though he had reminded himself mere seconds ago that his audience was composed entirely of monsters.

One monster, actually. The weirdest and wackiest thing Maui had ever stumbled across.

“No offence,” he continued apologetically. “Anyways, I know you get kinda antsy around water, so I made this basket you can sit in. It floats! Or – it _should_. Just in case we get caught in a storm and thrown overboard, you know? It happens. I have it on the canoe. Why don’t you try it for size?”

The monster – a bright blue creature of the eldritch that resembled a coconut crab – blinked his beady eyes up at Maui, claws stubbornly folded across his front. The thing only came up to Maui’s knee, and it had about as much intelligence as a human child of a similar age. Unlike a child, however, the creature could snap a palm tree in half and tie it in a knot if it wanted to.

Tamatoa’s belligerence swiftly turned into anger. He stomped his legs on the sand in the beginnings of a tantrum, claws snapping threateningly.

“I won’t!” the young monster screeched. “Won’t go!”

Maui sighed.

 _‘No’_ had been Tamatoa’s first ever utterance, when he still wore shells picked from the sand. _'I won’t’_ had come second. He used those words a lot.

The demigod grimaced in frustration and rolled onto his side. He had opted for a comfortable spot on the beach that evening, given how clear and beautiful the sky was. He had hoped showing the crab the constellations and talking about all of his adventures on far away islands would be enough to convince him to leave the spit of land forever anchored in dark, dangerous waters.

Indeed, this particular part of the ocean was notorious for monsters and storms and mischief. Maui called it the playground of the gods. One day, not a few years past, he had braved a particularly vicious storm in the hopes of discovering magical items of power lost within the tempestuous waters.

Instead, he had stumbled across a little hermit crab with a particular penchant for singing.

Was the monster going to grow up to be dangerous? Certainly. Was it going to submit to its cantankerous instincts and cause chaos throughout the seas? Without a doubt. The problem was that it could talk and displayed an unfortunate degree of sentience, suggesting that the thing could grow and learn and _feel_ and be subject to the heart-rending pains of abandonment and loneliness.

Maui had decided to stay. Just for a while.

“You won’t?” he mirrored, sitting up to look his young friend dead on. “Look, why not, man? I’ve told you stories about all your monster siblings. You know something most of them have in common? They’re gigantic! You’re gonna outgrow this tiny little island and you’re gonna be too heavy for even me to lift away. We’ve gotta find you a bigger place. And, jeez, will you at least keep it tidy? Never seen such a dump in my entire life,” Maui added, gesturing towards the beach surrounding them, which was covered in bones and rags and whatever else.

As Maui spoke, Tamatoa reached a claw far down into his toothy little mouth and pulled out an entire and remarkably intact fish skeleton. He then unleashed a mighty belch, the offensive noise so loud that it frightened away birds nesting in a nearby tree. Completely disregarding the demigod’s words, he slung it carelessly to the side.

“Augh, gross, man!” Maui groaned, batting some sand into his friend’s face. “Ya little slob. What the heck have I gotta do to get you outta this cesspit?”

That seemed to grab young Tamatoa’s attention. Beady little eyes perking up, he scuttled up to Maui and offered a grin so broad that it threatened to pop right off his face. His claws wrung together as if he was forming a diabolical plan – and, well, he probably was.

In response, Maui rolled onto his back and flopped down on the sand, staring indignantly at the sky.

“Why?” he asked the heavens. “Why did you inflict this thing upon me?”

“Maui!” Tamatoa squeaked angrily, demanding the demigod’s attention. “Give me!”

Confused, the man reluctantly looked at his devious little friend, feeling a sudden sense of dread creeping over his limbs.

“What? Give you what?”

The crab was holding something yellow and shiny in his claw. Now, just where he had miraculously produced it from, Maui was sure that he didn’t want to know, but it was an object pretty enough to grasp his attention. Knowing full well that the monster wouldn’t let him hold it, he instead sat upright and stared down at the little shiny nugget.

“What is it? Some kinda rock?” he asked, stroking his chin as he tried to figure it out. The object didn’t seem to have any obvious use, certainly no magical qualities, but Tamatoa appeared to love it so much that he actually rubbed it affectionately against his cheek, cooing at the glittering stone. “Wow. You really like that thing, doncha? Why aren’t you ever that adorable to _me_ , huh?”

Even more confused when the crab began excitedly pointing along the shoreline, Maui sighed and got to his feet, already suspecting what was required of him. If he had to guess, there were more of the shiny pebble things in a place the crab couldn’t go and it would require expert shapeshifting on the part of a certain demigod to acquire more of them.

Minutes later, he was stubbornly following his friend along the beach, arms folded across his chest in an ill-tempered manner.

“What am I to you, kid?” he asked, grumpily kicking a rock across the white sand. “Just a pair of opposable thumbs, huh? Maybe somethin’ warm for you to sleep on when it’s cold out? I only taught ya every word you know, you ungrateful little -”

“There!”

Further annoyed that he had been interrupted, Maui glanced along the beach and was dismayed to find broken planks of wood scattered along it. These black, rotting pieces were stark against the pure sand, stabbing into the island like spears. They gradually increased in size until his gaze met what looked like part of the fractured remains of a boat. He ran up to it, picking the sorry hunk of wood up to look for any survivors hiding inside, but there was nothing.

Nothing but worthless shiny stones that littered the sand.

Some of them were shaped, flat and round. There were also gems of all colours, necklaces of pearls, and materials of a kind Maui had never seen in his life. This boat was certainly not made by any islander, and whoever had once occupied it had been foolish enough to sail right into a supernatural storm.

The unfortunate souls had been lost long ago, given the condition of the wood. Only now was the dark, broken wreckage washing up on shore, the rest of it left to break apart underneath the waves.

“More!” Tamatoa demanded, perhaps not quite understanding the history of the vessel or the treasure that he so eagerly began collecting into a neat pile. He scuttled about this way and that, speedily gathering the few pieces of treasure until they were either stashed by the trees or he was wearing them. By the time he seemed to remember that Maui was present, he was wearing a pearl necklace around his eyestalks and a grubby silken cloth like a cloak. “More, Maui!”

Bewildered by the crab’s interest in the treasure, he knelt down and gestured at the jagged wood of the boat.

“None of this is _useful_ stuff, little guy. There’s no magic, no nothin’. Looks like these people died tryin’ to ferry it across the ocean.”

“Died?” Tamatoa questioned. As if seeking confirmation, he made a violent gesture with his claws that vaguely resembled a ship crashing into a rock and sinking, but it was only with the accompanying noises he made that Maui was able to determine what he was suggesting.

“Uh, yeah, maybe. They coulda been blown onto a rock, or one of the monsters got 'em. Uh …” he paused, realising what he had said. “One of the monsters got 'em to, um, help them to safety? 'Cause that’s what monsters do, okay? They’re helpful, and they listen when demigods like me tell ‘em its time to move to a bigger island. Just like how you used to have to find bigger shells. It’s easy!”

Tamatoa stared cluelessly up at him. He then pulled a face, apparently unable to figure out how to vocalise just what he wanted to say (which was probably for the best). Apparently deciding against any kind of argument or acknowledgement, he pointed at the necklace around his eyestalks.

“More!” he demanded.

Maui hit his own forehead with his palm.

“Doncha think you’ve got enough?”

“Nope!” The crab tapped his chin with a claw thoughtfully. “If Maui find more … I go! Out there!” He then gestured frantically towards the ocean.

Already suspicious, Maui eyed his friend for a moment, trying to detect any signs of deception.

“Is that a promise?”

“Promise!”

“Hmpf.” With a sigh, Maui took his fish hook from where it hung on the branch of a nearby tree, then moved to stand where the gentle line of the ocean moved back and forth to touch his toes. He felt his feet sink into the sand a little way as the moisture set in around them, the tickle of tiny stones and debris brushing against his skin as they swept past with the water. “Let me get this straight a moment. I’ve gotta pay you to let me help you, but not just with my friendship, no! I’ve gotta swim down into this really creepy, haunted part of the ocean and pick up all these shiny things, possibly sacrificing myself to some kinda demon along the way, just so you don’t get stranded here when you’re all big.”

“Yeah, yeah!” the monster agreed excitedly, doing a little jump in the sand. “Sacrifice!”

“Wh- _no!_ You’re not supposed to want that, dummy!” Running a hand down his face, Maui mentally ran through a list of possibilities. He could turn into a whale and store the treasure in his mouth, but … no, a whale would surely be too large and cumbersome. He could become a frogfish and use his bendy arm-hand-fin … things, in order to hold the treasure and swim at the same time. But no, a frogfish was surely far too small.

There was only one thing for it. Yet another blight upon Maui’s tarnished dignity.

The demigod’s form glowed a magical blue as he began his transformation. Then, a bright flash filled the orange sky – though it may not have seemed quite as impressive as usual. The spell was only half complete, and for good reason: he needed to be able to breathe down there, and he needed to have hands, too, something marine animals were unfortunately lacking in.

He laid on the sand, flat on his stomach, glowering. His brand new shark tail flopped agitatedly on the wet sand. His lower half was indeed that of a great shark, gills placed at his waist, while his upper half still resembled his demigod form.

As expected, Tamatoa burst into raucous laughter. He laughed so hard that he managed to end up completely on his back, many legs wriggling in the air as he spluttered and wheezed in sheer mirth.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s it, let it aaaaallll out,” Maui shot at him. “I’m just a big ol’ freaky fish over here. I don’t have feelings.” His dry words largely going unheard amidst peals of laughter, Maui sighed dramatically, then rolled into the ocean until he could use the great strength in his shark tail to start swimming into the somewhat murky waters.

He hated swimming. He sucked at it. His form preferred to sink rather than float, much like a heavy stone being tossed into the ocean and forced to adhere to the will of the tide. A half-shark form certainly made things easier, but not entirely, for it was difficult becoming used to the idea of being, well, _half_ of an animal, and that he wasn’t supposed to breathe out of his mouth. The demigod held his breath, holding it and holding it until the flappy gills either side of him finally kicked into gear.

Worse, these were not the clear blue waters of the islands. Everything was all rather grey and difficult to focus on here at this dangerous and lonely part of the ocean. Dull seaweed drifted to and fro in the swell of the waves, sometimes appearing like spirits from the cloudy murk. There was the occasional movement of unknown animals, too, the creatures vanishing as quickly as they appeared and remaining very much a mystery to poor Maui, who only had the debris of the boat to follow for guidance.

Deeper and deeper he went. The water became colder and darker as he trailed the pale expanse below. The only companions he had was the dull, dead coral he swam past. His surroundings were beginning to give him the heebie-jeebies, but he forced himself to stay on-track, unable to even humour the thought of giving up and going back empty-handed. If that annoying little crab wanted treasure in exchange for relenting and parting with the island, then that was what he was going to get.

A dark mass appeared before him. As he approached, the deathly black wood of a decimated boat clawed into visibility. It was partially buried in the sand and partially snagged on dark rocks that littered the ocean floor, meaning that it was subject to the movement of the water. Maui could feel the mighty vibrations the great vessel emitted, and they sounded almost like the moans of a ghost or demon. Terrifying to behold alone, to be sure, but onwards he went, pulling himself into the main body of the boat that had long since cracked in half.

Its build was unlike anything he had ever seen. There were various cavities within, all filled with rotting objects that he didn’t recognise. What he did recognise, however, was the treasure piled up all over the ruined remains of the floor. There were impossible amounts of it, far too much to carry, so Maui opted to swim down and pick up the most visually interesting pieces, using a golden platter plate to carry everything on.

It wasn’t really stealing, right? Not that that _mattered_ to Maui, per se, but the possibility of vengeful spirits came to the forefront of his mind. He really had no idea what to expect in this part of the ocean, because literally anything could happen. Even here, he could feel the unnatural magic that occupied every drop of water, every grain of sand, every cloud and bolt of lightning.

It hardly came as a surprise, then, when the remains of the boat were firmly nudged by something he could not see on the other side of the wreckage. He froze in his tracks as large pieces of wood broke off and floated down before him. That probably meant that it was time to make tracks before anything huge and terrifying came along to invite him into battle. He wouldn’t usually pass up on such an offer, but if he lost any of this treasure, the stupid crab he had gone down there for in the first place would be upset.

Quickly exiting the wreckage and swimming back in the direction of the island, Maui briefly looked back to see just what had caused the sudden tremor.

Oh. That wasn’t good.

From his higher perspective, he could see just what had shaken the boat. Just beyond it was a long but thin jagged crevice in the floor of the ocean, but he couldn’t tell how deep it was because something huge and bright orange was ballooning out of it like globs of lava. Only it wasn’t lava, because it looked disgustingly fleshy, growing and growing in size as whatever the creature was continued to venture out of its tiny hiding place. How had that thing even fit inside such a tiny space?

The thought led him to realise just what it was – and his realisation was confirmed when a bunch of enormous, suckered tentacles popped out of the crack and flailed about in search of whatever prey had just stumbled across its den. Then came the bright red mantle. Then a pair of golden eyes, each of them the size of Maui himself.

Cool. Monster octopus. Great. _  
_

In his current form, Maui didn’t have much choice but to swim as fast as he could in the opposite direction. His tail was powerful and slung him through the water far quicker than his legs could have. Taking advantage of the fact the octopus was still sliding out of its den, the demigod zoomed back through the murk towards the island until the rough bottom of his tail touched sand. He flopped eagerly back onto the shore, dropped the treasure, then transformed back into his usual self. To have his fish hook in hand again proved a relief, as did the sight of a waiting Tamatoa, safe and sound.

Maui carried the plate of treasure over and dumped it down. Tamatoa yelped in excitement and immediately dived into the shining pile, expertly inspecting each and every thing that he came across.

Sweeping his sodden hair out of his eyes, Maui sat down and carelessly picked up a few odd pieces.

“I just stared death itself in the face for this? It’s just junk, man,” he observed flatly, tossing a golden lamp over his shoulder. He then donned a heavily jewelled crown and fluttered his eyelashes at the young crab, momentarily pretending to be a princess of a far off nation. “What’s this stuff even for, huh? Do ya just look at it? Look pretty in it? Collect it into a cave and sing about it?”

Tamatoa didn’t respond. Now covered in elegant jewels, he was wiping the golden platter free of dirt and then he held it upright in his claws, staring somewhat forlornly at his own reflection.

Annoyed, Maui shuffled closer and gingerly placed a hand on the crab’s shell.

“What’s wrong, buddy? Don’t you like it?”

Met again with silence, he watched as Tamatoa moved the platter about a bit, distorting his reflection and elongating it so that for a brief moment, he might have looked like a weirdly googly-eyed human being.

Unsure how to respond to his friend’s sudden melancholy, Maui awkwardly patted the hard shell beneath his palm.

“It’s time to leave this island, Pinchy. I just stole the treasure hoard of the neighbourhood gigantic octopus. We all know that those things don’t forget a grudge.”

Tamatoa lowered the plate and slowly began to gather all of his treasures onto it, much like a child would reluctantly begin to tidy way their toys at bedtime. His palpable sadness was so disconcerting that Maui couldn’t find it within himself to be angry that his near miss with an enormous monster was being met with little gratitude.

With a sigh, he picked up the creature and held him so that they were face to face. Tamatoa kept his gaze averted, eyeballs and appendages flopping uselessly towards the ground.

“Why don’t you wanna leave this place?” Maui asked sincerely. “Look at all this neat treasure ya’ve got, now. All the other monsters are gonna be so jealous of all this junk.”

“Humans love Maui,” Tamatoa finally responded in a small voice. “Won’t love Tamatoa.” His sorrowful eyes met his friend’s. “Monsters told me.”

Feeling a sudden pang of guilt, Maui lowered the creature back down to the sand, unsure how to respond. He should have known that sooner or later, Tamatoa would be able to see through his fibs and realise that actually, there was little room in the world for a dangerous creature like him. He should have known that there would be other monsters around to tell him the truth.

Thinking quickly, he tried to think of a way to comfort the poor crab, but Maui wasn’t very good at this kind of thing. Anything relating to icky things like emotions were quickly swept under a rug and forgotten about. Now, however, this wasn’t about him. This was about a monster that for all intents and purposes was a _child_ in the body of a coconut crab.

With a somewhat nervous swallow, he reached forwards and encouraged Tamatoa to look up towards the twilight sky, where the first few stars were beginning to twinkle in the realms beyond.

“Hey, look at that, little guy,” he said, forcing awe into his tone. “You’re gonna shine as bright as those stars one day. I promise.”

Now, Maui hadn’t yet realised just how literal of a creature Tamatoa was, and he wouldn’t find out for many, many years to come.

The demigod glanced off towards the ocean when he saw something disturbing the surface.

A flicker of orange. He smiled, reaching for his fish hook.

“We’ve got so many adventures ahead of us,” he continued, rising to his feet. “Looks like there’s one heading for us right now: an eight-legged slime-ball who never learnt how to share. What do we do, Crabcake? Do we run for our lives, or do we stay and fight?”

Seeming to forget his sorrows, Tamatoa excitedly threw his claws up into the air and grinned toothily.

“Fight! Fight! Fight, Maui!”

* * *

And the adventures of the demigod and his monstrous companion came thick and fast for decades upon end. One thing that bound them all, however, was _treasure,_ and the day Maui swam deep into the depths to find lost gold for his best friend certainly was not the first time.

But, of course, everything had to end, and the coldness Maui felt was no longer caused by the deepest recesses of the ocean.


End file.
